World is Havin' More Fun Than Me
by A'isha Ishtar
Summary: The least she could do was help them. The most she could do was love them. She'd always been an overachiever... slight Splinter/OC, but other than that just a fluffy family fic


**Wellllll... forgive me for adding to the family fluff crap pile here. BUT. I bring you the turtles' "mother", Laura. I wish I could have thought of a better name though, but I don't know if any other name really fits her. Oh well.**

**I have an excuse for this one too, as I do all my others! My excuse: I was watching the TMNT episode "Fathers and Sons". Hehehe. And I HAD to do this. I just had to, k? K. So bye bye now.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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_You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes._

_~Walter M. Schirra, Sr._

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The first time that Laura Ryder had seen them, all of them, she'd thought she was hallucinating. Or drunk. Or dreaming. Or all three at the same time.

The four little ones, large humanlike turtles, didn't have much idea what was going on in the beginning. They were scared, and cried a lot, even when she first met them. It was understandable, of course; they were probably only a year or two old when she first saw them.

But the large rat, just as humanlike as the turtles, gave his name as Splinter and explained everything to her. Once she woke up from the third faint, anyway. As she'd gotten the story, his master Yoshi, who was visiting from Japan, had gotten killed. Splinter had gotten loose after that, and found the turtles, after which they had all accidentally gotten into some kind of goo or something. Then they became this - mutants, he'd called it.

Laura had quickly and carefully navigated them through the twisting alleys of New York, back to her house. She was lucky enough to have not an apartment, but an actual two-story house that was all hers. Her husband had died years ago, and so she didn't share the house with anyone else. She had shielded them all with her coat as she snuck them into the house past the glances of anyone else.

What could she have done anyway? They were all lost and confused and probably scared. They'd only been on their own for a few days, and it was a big world. What was she supposed to do? Leave them there? They shocked her, but that didn't mean she was just going to walk away when they needed help.

That led her to where she was now. One of the infant turtles had turned on the television, and it was blaring the history channel, some documentary about the Renaissance or something. The kid wasn't even paying attention to it anymore, he was more interested in her clock.

She had brought a few towels into the living room and was trying to dry the kids off, since it had been raining - she'd already shown Splinter to the bathroom and given him some privacy. The turtles were still all wet, dripping on the carpet and shivering. Two of them had formed a line behind the first one, while the other one was still being fascinated by her appliances.

This one kept fighting against her. He shoved the towel away and batted his hands at her, protesting loudly and not very coherently. Mostly he was just screaming "_No_!" at her everytime she came at him with the towel.

"_No no no no no no no noooooooo!_"

Laura picked the towel up off the floor and tossed it over his head, trying to hold it down. Geez, for kids they were sure strong. "Knock it off! If you don't get dry you're going to catch a cold! Would you stand still?"

He head popped up from the towel and he glared at her. He also had a very nice pout going on. This lasted for all of about five seconds before his head snapped down with a violent sneeze.

"See?" She took the opportunity to grab the towel and start rubbing it all over him. "You don't stand still, it's only going to be worse for you. And bless you." She looked back at the other two. "Either of _you_ wanna get sick?"

After looking at each other and conducting some kind of mental meeting, they shook their heads vigorously.

"So you'll let me dry you, right? Stand still for me?"

They nodded.

"Good boys." She cocked her head over to the one who was sitting on the floor and playing with her lamp. "Go get your brother. He's wet, he's touching the lamp, and he's going to shock himself." She swished the towel off her current turtle. "There we go, all better. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

He just crossed his arms, pouted again, then stuck his tongue out at her.

She gave him a light smack on the head, and patted his shell. "Go have a seat on the couch. And if I see that tongue again, I'm putting hot sauce on it. Keep it in your mouth or you'll catch flies."

He gave her one last scowl, then ran off to jump up on the couch.

The next one was up to her now. Only one of them had gone to get the curious one, and this one looked frightened beyond all belief. She draped the towel around his shoulders and was about to get started. Before she could, though, he ran forward at her and buried his head in her chest, crying.

"Whoa!" Laura carefully put her hand on his shell and rubbed it lightly, then moved her fingers up to his neck. "It's okay, honey. It's okay, don't cry."

He continued to wail loudly, holding onto her as if she were his last connection to life, and now his brothers were looking over at him. All of a sudden, they all started crying and ran over to her, crowding around her legs and tugging on her clothes.

"H-Hey! Boys, I can only hold one of you at a time!" She picked up the one she'd been trying to comfort, patting the others' heads. "It's okay. You're all fine."

"Is everything alright down here, Mrs. Ryder?" When she looked over, Splinter was coming down the stairs. "I heard distress."

She sighed, rocking her body and the baby turtle along with her. "I was trying to get them all dried off, and he just started crying. And then that set off a chain reaction, and now they're _all_ crying."

"I see." Splinter clapped his hands. "Here!"

Two of the turtles ran over to be held by Splinter, while one stayed with her, clinging to her leg as she held the other. They were still all crying.

Laura hiked the one she was holding up higher and limped over to the couch, sitting down. The one who'd been on her leg scrambled up to sit beside her, leaning against her and putting his thumb - or the equivalent anyway - in his mouth. She recognized him as the one who'd fought with her when she was trying to dry him off. She continued to hold the first one in her lap, but put one arm around the other, holding him to her. "It's okay, guys," she whispered, lightly kissing the head of the one she was holding. "You're alright."

Eventually the sobbing died down, with Laura having two of them and Splinter having two. Because that was much more manageable. She leaned back a little, rubbing the head of the turtle sitting next to her. "Poor things," she muttered, patting the little one's shell. "I guess they're just a little overwhelmed by all this."

Splinter nodded in agreement. "As am I." He was still holding the other two, who had calmed down a little but were still upset. "He is the more sensitive," he commented, gesturing to the one she was holding.

"Poor little guy." She felt him moving around a little, shifting against her breastbone. "I wish there was something else I could do."

"You are doing all you can. I appreciate your generosity."

She nodded and looked down at the child. He still didn't look like he felt too safe. She held him closer. "Do they have names?"

"Not as far as I know. I have been too busy trying to conceal us to think anything up."

"Well, maybe we should name them now." She looked down at the one on her lap, then to the one leaning on her. "Hmm."

The TV interrupted her thoughts. _"... And perhaps the most famous artist from the Renaissance era is Michelangelo, who was revered for his legendary paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel..."_

Laura blinked a few times, then looked down at the one on her lap. "Hey, that's it!" She held him up, nuzzling his nose - err, beak - with hers. "You'll be Michelangelo." She grinned at him, and to her surprise he smiled back a little bit. "We'll call you Mikey for short." When he hugged her tightly, she laughed and looked up at Splinter. "Hey! Why don't we name them all after Renaissance men?"

The TV put in its two cents again. _"One of the more well-known figures from the Renaissance is Leonardo da Vinci. Two more scarcely known but still accomplished men were Raphael and Donatello."_

Laura pulled the other one closer to her. "And you'll be Raphael - Raph."

Splinter looked down at the two with him, and put a hand on each of their heads. "Leonardo, and Donatello."

"Leo and Donny." Laura pulled Raphael up onto her lap and gave both him and Michelangelo a hug. "I like it. They're creative. Besides, we can call them their nicknames when they're little, and then their full names are good when they grow up. I mean, who messes with a 'Raphael'? Nobody, that's who."

"Then it is settled. These will be their names."

"Good stuff." Laura nodded, glancing down at the two toddlers that were with her. "Now, let's see. Next step. Hmm... they look kinda hungry. What about you?"

Splinter looked down, moving a hand on each of the boys' shells. "I do not wish to be a burden, Mrs. Ryder."

"Okay - so you can eat, then. Right, sooooo..." She stood up, partially tossing Michelangelo over her shoulder. Once she'd gotten up, Raphael hopped down, having lost his "pillow", and fumbled for her hand, which she took, wrapping her fingers around his. "C'mon, boys - we're gonna have a little breakfast for dinner. How's cereal sound?"

"Mmm-y," was all she caught of what Mikey mumbled into her shoulder.

"'Kay," was Raphael's answer, as he practically clung to her side and stared at the floor.

The other two with Splinter - Leonardo and Donatello - expressed their excitement by shouting "Yay!" and virtually dragging the rat along with them.

After she got to the kitchen, Laura led Raph to a seat and carefully put Mikey down. She refused to let go, as did he, until his feet were firmly on the floor. He still looked nervous, as if he didn't want to leave her. She sighed, but followed it with a warm smile. "Mikey, you wanna set out the bowls, sweetie?" she asked, taking said bowls down from the cabinet.

Mikey nodded and beamed happily as he took them from her. "'Kay!" he giggled as he waddled back over to the table where Splinter had already taken a seat with Leo and Donny.

And of _course,_ this would have to incite another swarm. Raph reached her first, tugging on her jeans pocket. "Wanna help too!" Which was the only thing more than one syllable she'd heard any of them say since she'd brought them here.

In an instant the other two were crowding around her, begging for jobs as well. "Yeah! Help!"

"Pick me!"

The buzz of noise was cut through by a stern "_Boys!_" from Splinter, whom all the turtles except for Mikey (gleefully placing bowls around the table) quickly turn to look at. "I do not believe Mrs. Ryder requires more help."

Seeing the crestfallen looks on Leo, Raph, and Donny's faces at this announcement, Laura cleared her throat. "Uh, well, that's okay. Just not all at once, alright?" She surreptitiously opened the silverware drawer and clanged around in it a moment. "Raph?" Producing six spoons, she beckoned him forward and transferred the utensils into his hands. "Follow Mikey and put 'em by the bowls."

For the first time, Laura saw a smile stretch across Raph's face. Then he nodded and raced off to perform his task.

"Alright - Leo!" She took him over to the other cabinet, pulled down a box of Cocoa Puffs, and handed it to him. "To the table, then have a seat, dear."

He nodded and raced over, holding the back to his chest, looking proud as anything.

"Here, Donny!" she called, leading the toddler over to the refrigerator. She pulled out a small carton of milk and handed it to Donny. "Right by the cereal, be careful, hon."

As he hurried over, Laura pushed her hair back, grinned, and followed him. This probably wouldn't be awful... raising a few kid turtles. Hell, it might even be fun.

She'd always wanted kids, and she'd wanted boys. Although, she supposed, now she understood the phrase _careful what you wish for_ - in the span of two hours she'd somehow acquired _four_ sons.

Well, maybe it would be hard, but she would do her best to enjoy whatever was to come.

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**Aww Raph, fighting from the very beginning. Haha!**

**How's Laura going to deal with this craziness all of a sudden? It's gotta be insane... well, have a think about it! And while you're at that, how 'bout shootin' me a review? 8D**

**Thanks for readin'!**


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